Hyperion Planning is a Web-based, multitiered planning and forecasting application that maximizes the power of Essbase.
There are three separate logical tiers in any Planning configuration:
1. A
Database Tier -The database tier contains the database servers, a relational database, and an Essbase database. The database tier includes the following components:
❍ Essbase
❍ A relational database server (either Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, or IBM DB2).
2.
Application/Web server tier (also referred to as the middle tier)
-The application/Web server tier, or middle tier, contains the Planning Windows-based server, the Web server and Web Application server. Multiple application servers can be created on additional hardware for scalability. The application / Web server tier includes these components:
❍ A Planning Windows-based server
❍ A Planning Java application server
❍ A Essbase® Administration Services Java application server
❍ A Web server (optional)
The middle tier application server complies with the J2EE standard and supports popular Java application servers such as WebLogic, WebSphere, and Tomcat. Because the middle tier is a true application tier and no data resides in that tier, scalability and availability is greatly enhanced.
3.
Client Tier-The client tier contains the administrator client and Web client that communicate with the application tier. You use the client tier to enter data, perform process management, manage metadata, manage users and security, launch business rules, copy versions, develop data forms, and perform other administrative tasks. The client tier consists of the following components:
❍ The Planning Windows client
❍ The Planning Web client
❍ The Smart View client
Planning uses a thin Web-client architecture so that common users only need a supported browser on the client computer. There is no processing on the client workstation. The actual data is stored and calculated using Essbase on the database tier along with a relational database repository for storing the application framework, metadata, and textual data.
Planning provides complete functionality for the Web user, including reporting and analysis, process management, and form design.
Additional Components that you can use together with Planning:
1.
Business Rules - Business Rules is an underlying component of Planning that is installed automatically with Essbase® Administration Services. This is a graphical tool that guides users through the creation, maintenance, customization, documentation, and execution of sophisticated calculations and business models. With this you can do a variety of analytic applications, such as product and customer profitability, budgeting and planning, financial management, and customer relationship management.
2.
ESSBase- Planning runs on top of Hyperion® Essbase® – System 9 and enhances its analytic and calculation capabilities, security filters, APIs, pre-built financial intelligence, calculation functions, and multicube application support. Planning capitalizes on OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) and data warehouse technologies
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OLAP stands for Online Analytical Processing. It is a software tool that provides analysis of data stored on the database. It's tools help the users to analyze different dimensions of multidimensional data. OLAP is most often used for data mining.
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Data Mining is a class of database applications that look for hidden patterns in group of data that can be used to predict future behavior. This tool helps users discover previously unknown relationships among the data.
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Data Warehouse is a repository of an organization's electronically stored data. Data warehouses are designed to facilitate reporting and analysis.
3.
Financial Reporting-Hyperion® Financial Reporting – System 9 creates reports that combine grids of data and text, charts, graphs, and images. Aside from providing complete control over layouts, formatting, fonts, and colors, it also provides business analytics, such as conditional suppression and automatic calculations that can be used to focus and filter reports.
4.
Data Integration Management -Data Integration Management Adapter for Planning enables you to define target tables for loading data and metadata into Planning and use the target tables in workflows.
5.
Hyperion Application Link-Hyperion Application Link is a suite of application integration services that integrates external source with Hyperion’s business analysis software. You can use it to load data accounts, entities, and custom dimensions from flat files, ODBC compliant databases, or an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system into Planning.
-This is purchased separeately
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Enterprise Resource Planning is the planning of how business resources (materials, employees, customers etc.) are acquired and moved from one state to another.
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Enterprise Resource Planning System is a business support system that maintains in a single database the data needed for a variety of business functions such as Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, Financials, Projects, Human Resources and Customer Relationship Management.
6.
Smart View-Smart View provides integration with Microsoft Office for Planning, Hyperion® Financial Management – System 9, Financial Reporting, and Hyperion® Web Analysis – System 9
7.
Shared Services (formerly called Hyperion Hub)
-Shared Services provides User provisioning, external authentication definition, metadata synchronization, and data synchronization
Planning ArchitectureThere are many possible architecture for Planning (depending on your configured environment).
Configuration for Planning on Windows is available for all Planning components.
UNIX configuration for Planning is available for Relational database, Essbase Server, web application server, Essbase Administration Server, and Shared Services server. In addition, most Financial Reporting components can be configured on UNIX.
Diagram below is a sample of a Oracle recommended distributed configuration.
Another possible configuration, as shown below, if you’re combining the application/web server and the database server is to use the single-server configuration. This is recommended only for a development environment or for clients with very minimal users.
Deployment on Multi Servers
Figure below illustrated the recommended configuration if you are deploying multi servers for each application.
Planning Application Modules:1.
Oracle Hyperion Workforce Planning is a special-purpose planning module that makes head count, salary, and compensation planning efficient across the enterprise. It allows you to accurately assess the business impact of workforce decisions on your overall expense plans in real time.
2.
Oracle Integrated Operational Planning links financial plans and metrics to operational plans from manufacturing, sales, marketing and other functions to create an integrated business planning framework that enables fact-based decision-making. It addresses a range of high-value planning processes typically solved with offline spreadsheets today—such as integrated revenue and profit planning, cost of goods sold (COGS) modeling, product allocation, and stock keeping unit (SKU) rationalization.
3.Oracle Hyperion
Capital Asset Planning allows you to accurately assess the impact of capital decisions on overall expense plans.
With
Oracle Hyperion Capital Asset Planning, you can:
a.Make Accurate and Predictable Forecasts
b.Simplify Implementation and Reduce Maintenance Burdens
c.Address All Planning Requirements with Customization Capabilities
d.Manage Expenses with Prebuilt Functionality and Best Practices
e.Assess the Financial Impact of Capital Asset Expenses in Real Time
f.Improve Plan Accuracy, Predictability, and Accountability
g.Automate the Planning Process
h.Gain Dependable Security over Data, Calculations, and Global Settings
There are still a lot about Hyperion Planning that were not included here. Please do send your comments and let me know if you find something wrong in this post. Like what i mentioned on my previous post, I'm still new in this area so your comments are most appreciated=)